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    Dell Inspiron E1405, Keyboard Cosmetics?

    Discussion in 'Notebook Cosmetic Modifications and Custom Builds' started by Imbroglione, Jan 3, 2007.

  1. Imbroglione

    Imbroglione Newbie

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    I've been looking around for some sort of underglow that is small enough to fit under the keys on these keyboards.

    Anyone familiar with virtually any Dell notebook should know roughly the layout of the keyboard. slightly inset, with a compact yet fluid design, I like it. But I would also like to work on this, stock just seems plain, figured I could start here, and work my way up.

    Any suggestions, I would also like to figure a way to wire it to my power supply, it wont be too overbearing because it's a tiny fraction of power usage, I would just fear crossing something.
     
  2. coriolis

    coriolis Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    I did quite a bit of research on this almost 6 months back and I've concluded that it's simply not possible unless you spend alot of money. The reason being that default factory keyboard keys are not translucent, as well, due to the lack of space between the keys and the base. Putting anything in there such as LED strips will render the keyboard useless.

    The only way I found was to make your own keyboard, dissect one to pieces, mold new keys that are translucent(either the keys but not the letters or vice versa) and have some sort of mixtured chemicals inside them that would react to the power. It's pretty complicated from what I've read.
     
  3. Imbroglione

    Imbroglione Newbie

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    I suppose that is a bit discouraging, and still very useful information. Thank you for saving me about 6 months of time.

    And I don't have the money for option two. Guess I'm s.o.l. heh.